The Spice Shop

Curry Basic mix, 75g
Unit price: £3.95 (approx. €4.42)
Shipping Weight: 100g

A large bag of seeds, like coriander, cumin, cardamom, mustard seeds, chilli, cassia and many more. All you need to make a curry from scratch. Either dry-roast them first then grind, or grind as they are.

Recipe: Dry roast the spices in a frying pan, cool and grind. Fry onion, ginger and garlig in a little oil. Add the spices, 1 tsp/person, and fry a couple of minutes. Add meat or vegetables and stock. Bring to the boil, lower heat and cook until the meat or veg are tender. Check seasoning - you may want to add salt. Serve with rice.

Aniseeds, green

Try making shortbread flavoured with aniseed: Mix 4 oz butter + 2 oz sugar. Add 6 oz plain flour and 2 tsp aniseeds. Roll the dough out to 1/2" thickness and stamp out biscuits. Chill for 20 mins then bake at 190°/gas 5 for 15-20 mins. Cool on the tray.

Hungarian Goulasch mix

Brown onions and diced beef in lard, add water and spice (1 teaspoon per person) and cook until meat is done. I normally cook a pot to last me a week, and for each meal I transfer a bit to a smaller pot and add potatoes (which is good but not Hungarian-orthodox). Serve topped with sour cream. Gets better each day.

Ajowan - Carom - Kings Cumin

East African chicken soup is awesome with ajowan! Brown some onions and crushed peanuts or cashews in oil, add chopped up chicken leg - skin bones and all, they add to the flavor - brown on all sides, cover with water and cook with cumin and ajowan seeds until done; finish by stirring in a can of coconut milk. The ajowan balances out the sweetness of nuts and milk; really good quick soup.

Mexican Quesadilla seasoning

Season your meat or re-fried beans with this spice mix. Pile on to tortilla breads, add grated cheese, top with a second bread and fry in oil. Delicious!!